Machine fob uniting knitted webs



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MACHINE FOR UNITING KNITTED WEBS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22. 1918.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HJJNTOR Lows 1.0.

I.. N. D. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR UNITING KNITTED WEBS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-22. |918.

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L. N. D. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR UNITING KNITTED WEBS. APPLICATION FILED I'AN.22` I9III.

'L y 3 5,064; Patented Sept. 2', 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4- L. N. D. WILLIAMS.

MACHINE FOR UNITING KNITTED WEBS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-22.19%.

Pantedsept. 2, 1919.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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MACHINE FOR UNITING KNITTED WEBS.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN22. |918.

Patented Sept.

6 SHEETS-SHEET B.

:LOUIS N. D. WILLIAMS, or oeoNTa, rENNsYLvaEIa.

MACHINE FOR 'UNITING `KNITIIZED WEBS.

Specioaton of Letters latent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

.Application led January 22, 1916. Serial No. 213,196.

To all whom t may concern: y

Be it known that I, Louis N. l). WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Ogontz, Pennsylvania, have invented certain improvements inMachines for Uniting Knitted Webs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a machine for uniting stitches constituting the terminal courses of two knitted webs, such for instance as the courses around the toe pocket yand instep member of the foot web of a stocking. The objects of my invention are to render the machine substantially automatic in its action; to prevent waste of time in the operation of the machine, and to permit ready application and removal of thewebs to be united.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown my invention as applied to a machine of the Keyser type, forming the subject of Letters Patent No. 1,069,336, dated August 5, 1913, but my invention is not limited in its application to machines of that type, the

of reference.

ln the drawing Figure 1 is a top view of the machine, the

latter being selected simply for the purpose i sewing mechanism having been omitted in order to properly illustrate the parts below the same; y

Fig. 2 is a rear view looking in the direction of the arrow m, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in transverse section, on the line 3 3, Ele. i; r

Fig. 4 is an end view of the machine look- I ing in the direction of the arrow y, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a top view partly in section and with some of the parts in different position from that illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a similar view with the parts in still another position;

Fig. 6a is an inner edge view of certain parts of the machine in the position shown in Fig. 1, but with the actuating pin at a more advanced stage of its movementthan that sho-wn in said figure.

Fig. 7 is a top view of certain parts of the machine not clearly shown in the other views, and Y Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the mechanism lfor severing the stitch chain' after the unitin of the webs has been effected.

la Fig. 2 of the drawing, 1 represents the fixed. base et the machine, upon which is mounted, so as to be free to rotate, a cylinder 2, the latter having at the base an outwardly projecting flan e 4 upon whose periphery are formed ratc et teeth 5, as shown in Fig. 1, sa1d ratchet teeth extending completely around the flange 4 except at the point 6 where a series of teeth have been removed. Within the cylinder 2 is properly mounted, so as to rotate therewith, a ring carrying stitch-receivin points upon which are impaled the stitc es of the terminal course of the two webs which are to be united. Such ring is shown by dotted lines at 2a in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and the projecting stitchreceiving points thereon are shown at 2* in said figure.

This web carrier is preferably of the type shown in Letters Patent 1,068,853, which provides for the transfer of single stitches from the needlesofthe knitting machine to all of the points of the ring, and for then transferring the stitches from one halt of said points to the other half so as to double the stitches upon the latter set of points, the stitches to' be united therefore extending only half way around the point ring.

rllhe sewing mechanism of the machine may be similar to that oii' the Keyser patent, and need not therefore be herein described, except in so tar as to say that it comprises a needle 7 and a looper 8, one vibrating at a right angle to the other, and forming two rows of loops, these of one row being interlocked with those of the other row, and passing through the webs so as to unite the same.

The mechanism for operating the needle and looper is driven by a shaft 9 which is free .to turn in bearings in a lU-shaped frame 10, mounted so as to be free to swing upon a pivot pin 11 projecting upwardly from the base frame 1 of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2. i

rlhe shaft 9 can be operated directly from a belt pulley 12 through the medium of a clutch comprising a radially projecting pin 13 on the shaft and a longitudinally projecting pin 111 on the pulley, 0r it can be driven y indirectly, by hand, from a countershaft 15 mounted so as to be free to turn in a bear- ,ing 16 projecting rearwardly from the Us shaped frame 10, said shaft 15 being geared to the shaft 9 by means of interrneshing spur wheels 17 and 18, as' shown in Fig. 1,- and# having, at one end, a hand wheel 19 in orderto facilitate its manipulation.

1t will, et course, be understeed that when the shaft 9 is being operated through the `medium of the countershaft 15 the belt mounted upon the outerend of an arm 21- (see Figs. 1 and 2) said arm being pivotally mounted upon a stud 23 projecting from the base plate 1 of the machine, backward movement of the pawl being effected by means of a spring 24 connected to the tree end of the arm 21, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. -1, and forward movement being imparted to the pawl by means of an arm 25, Figs. 1 and `4, said arm 25 depending from a rocker head 26 which is free to turn on a shaft 27, the latter being secured to a supporting head 28, projecting forwardly fromthe U-shaped frame 10, as shown in Fig. l.

' The rocker head 26 has secured to it two inwardly projecting arms 30 and 31, each having at its rear end an anti-friction roller 32, that carried by the arm 30 being in position to be acted upon by a cam 33 on the shaft 9, and that carried by the arm 31 being acted upon, at certain times in the operation of the machine, by a cam 34 carried by and rotating with the driving pulley 12, as shown in Figl, the cam 34 having a longer throw than the cam 33, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

Longitudinal movement of the belt pulley on the shaft '9, so as to carry the cam 34 alternately into and out of position to operate upon the anti-friction roller on the arm 31, is effected by means of a lever 35 pivotally1 mounted upon a projecting stud 36 on the frame 10, as shown in Fig. 2, and having on one arm a stud 37 engaging a grooved collar 38 on the driving pulley structure, and on the other arm a pin 39 which is connected by a bar 40 to a lever 41, pivotally mounted upon an arm 42 which projects from the frame 10 and is by means of a spring 42a drawn toward the cylinder 2, until such movement is arrested by contact of a finger 42b on the arm with a fixed stop on the base of the machine. The lever 41 is swung upon its pivot in the direction of the arrow w, Fig. 1, by means of a coiled spring 43.

The inner arm of the lever 41 has upon it an upwardly projecting pin 44 with which coperates the notched end of an arm 45 pivoted at 46 to a stud 47 on the base of the machine and acted upon by a spring 48 which tends to move it inwardly to the position shown in Fig.4 5. Projecting upwardly from the base 4 of the cylinder 2 is a stud 50 Whose upper end is beveled, as shown in Fig.

1, in which the stud is represented by two concentric circles, the larger and outer of which represents the diameter of the lower portion of the stud and the inner and smaller represents the diameter of the reduced upper end of the beveled top of the stud. The inner face of the arm 45 is beveled and on the top of the arm is a stop plate 51 whose forward face is also beveled and whose outer end also coperates with the in 44.

In first starting the machine, the lever 41 is adjusted to the position shown in Fig. 5, by operating the starting lever 35 by hand so as to move the driving pulley sti'iicture outwardly on the shaft 9 and bring the pin 14 into engagement with the pin 13 so as to drive said shaft 9 directly from the pulley 12. Previous to this time the pawl 20 operated in the blank space 6 of the cylinder flange, consequently the cylinder was without movement and the point ring with the webs upon it could therefore be readily adjusted to position in said cylinder. As soon, however, as the lever 41 was moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 5 it struck an upwardly projecting pin' 51*1 on the base of the cylinder and imparted a slight forward movement to said cylinder sufficient to carry in front of the pawl 20 the first ratchet tooth 5 in the rear of the blank space 6, and, as the pawl 2O is now being reciprocated by the cam 33 to an extent sufficient to carry it from one tooth 5 to the next, intermittent movements of partial rotation, each to the extent of one tooth, will be imparted to the cylinder 2, and the successive stitches of the webs will be presented to the sewing mechanism and l will be united thereby.

This operation continues until the webs have been united throughout their extent, say for half a rotation of the cylinder 2, at which time the stud 50 comes into contact with the inner edge of the plate 51 and pushes the same and the arm 45 outwardly so as to free the pin 44 on the lever 41 from engagement with the notch at the outer end of said arm 45, the lever 41 being then moved by the spring 43 so as to cause the pin 44 to come into contact with the outer end of the plate 51, as shown in Fig. 6, in which position the cam 34 acts upon the roller 32 on the arm 31 and rocks the strueture 26 and pawl-actuating arm 25. On each stroke the pawl now engages a plurality of teeth 5, and the intermittent move ments of the cylinder 2 are increased in extent until the full rotation of said cylinder has been completed and the pawl 2O is again resting in the blank space 6, whereupon further rotation of the cylinder is stopped so as to permit removal of the point carrier having the united webs thereon, and the replacing of the same by a point carrier having fresh webs upon it. The quick movement of the cylinder 2 prior to the stoppage of the same provides more 4time for the changing of the web holders after such stoppage and before the machine is again started by movement of the lever .35. By

the time the quick movements of the cylin.

of engagement with the anti-friction roller- 32 and thus stop further movement of the rocking frame 26 and of the pawl-actuating arm 25 thereon.

If it is desired to place the operation of the machine under control of the countershaft 15, so as to provide for hand movement of any part at any time, the starting lever 35 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 6, in which position the pulley 12 is inoperative for driving any part of the ma chine, the anti-friction roller 32 of the arm 31 being now in line with the concentric collar 56 on said pulley structure, and consequently having no movement imparted to it. Adjustment of the starting lever so as to again move the pins 13 and 14 into engagement with one another causes movement of the lever 41 to the position shown in Fig. 5, the arm 45 being then moved by its spring 48 into position to cause the notched end of the arm to again engage with the pin 44 and lock the lever 41 in the position shown in Fig. 5.

After the uniting of the two webs has been completed the sewin mechanism of the machine operates for a sort time longer in order to produce a chain of interlocked loops around a finger- 60 Figs. 2 and 3) and in order to provide for severing the webuniting stitches Afrom the stitches on said lfimger 60 the sewing mechanism is moved away from the cylinder 2 by swinging the frame 10 upon its pivot stud 11, such action being effected by means of4 cams 61 and 62 on the outside of the'cylinder 2, the cani 61 acting at the proper time on the toe 63 of an arm 64 projecting from the structure 10 and the cani 62 acting at a later period on a like toe 63 on an arm 65 on said structure 10, so as to swing the latter first in one direction to carry the sewing mechanism outwardly away from the cylinder and then in the opposite direction to restore said sewing mechanism to operative position. y

When the sewing mechanism is swung .l away from the cylinder 2 a line of lstitches extends from the united webs to the finger 60 and is drawn between the jaws of a pair of shears 66 mounted upon the outer face of the cylinder 2, as shown in Fig. 8. @ne of the shear jaws is fixed and the other movable, the latter jaw constituting one arm of a bell crank lever 67 which has a 4pin 68 entering a slot 69' in o ne arm of a bell crank lever 70 whose other arm has pro'ecting and vertically separated pins 7 l and 2, between which 'enters a cam plate 7 3 mountedupon. that ortion of the base structure which surroun s the flanged base of the cylinder 2, as shown 1n Fig. 1.

The cam plate 73 has upon its upper face a cam 74 and upon its under face a similar cam 7,5,.and, as the shear structure is carried past said cam plate bywtheA cylinder 2, the lower cam 75 will act upon the lower pin 72 of the lever 7 0 so as to close the jaws of the shears .and sever the line of stitches between the united Webs and the finger 6 0, and at a further stage of movement of the cylinder 2 the Vupper cam 74 will act upon the pin 71 of the lever 7 0 to a ain open said shears.

The sewing mec anism should approachV the web holder gradually in order to prevent derangement of the needles in respect to the stitch-carry1ng points of said web holder which might result from -sudden or abrupt approach, and for this reason the cams which act upon thelever arms 64 `and 65 have beveled ends, as shown in Figs. 1- and 7.

In order to insure the retention-of the fabric upon the impaling points 2b during the sewing operation, a presser finger 76 is provided. Said finger is carried by an arm 77 pivotally mounted upon the structure 10 and, during the time the sewing operation is taking place, presses downwardly upon the fabric inside of the points 2b, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. When the sewing operation is complete it is necessary that this finger 76 be raised so as to vertically clear the points 2b and permit outward swinging movement of the structure 10. This raising of the -presser finger is accomplished Aby means of a Cam 78 on the cylinder 2 which acts upon a toe 7 9 on the arm 77, so as to raise said arm at the proper time. Before thenext sewing operation takes place, and after the frame 10 has been moved to restore the sewing mechanism to operative position, the toe `7 9 is freed from the action of the cam 78, as shown in Fig. 2, and the finger 76 again bears upon the fabric inside 0f the impaling points 2".

lt will be evident that modifications in the details of construction of the' parts of -the machine constituting the subject of my invention Vmay be made without departingI from the essential spirit of said invention as set forth in the following claims.

unite the knitted webs, means for moving the sewing mechanism from and toward the web carrier so as to cause a cham of stitches to 'bridgethe space between the two, shears for cutting said chain of stitches, and means for operating said shears.

2. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier, sewin mechanism coperating therewith to unlte the knitted webs, means for moving the sewing mechanism from and toward the web carrier so as to cause a chain of stitches tovl bridge the space between the two, a finger for receiving and retaining said chain of stitches, shears for cutting said chain of stitches between the webs and the needles, and means for operating said shears. 3. The combination, p in a machine for unitin lmitted webs, of a web carrier h aving stitch-impaling points thereon, sewlng mechanism coperating with said polnts to unite the stitches thereon, said sewing mechanism being movable from and toward the web carrier in order to carry the needle into and out of operative relation` therewith and being adapt-ed to form a plurality of successive stitches when in inoperative position in respect to said web carrier, and means for causing gradual movement of said sewing mechanism toward the web carrier so as to prevent disarrangement of Said sewing mechanism in respect to the stitch-carrying points as it is moved into operative relation thereto.

4. The combination, in a machine for 'uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier having ratchet teeth which extend around the same except as to a blank space at one point, a pawl for engaging said teeth, and means for reciprocating said pawl, whereby the web carrier will be operated by a succession .of intermittent movements for ahnost a complete rotation, and said movement will then be automatically arrested.

5. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier having ratchet teeth separated by a blank Space, a pawl for acting on said ratchet teeth to move the webcarrier by a succession of intermittent movements with an intervening` period when the pawl is engaging the blank space between the ratchet teeth, mechanism for starting the machine, a projecting stud on the web carrier, and a member of the starting mechanism bearing such relation to said stud when the latter is at rest that, in starting the machine, said memberwill contact with said stud and move the web carrier ahead far enough to bring the lfirst tooth of the ratchet into position to engage the driving pawl.

6. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier, means for operating the same, mechanism for uniting the webs on said carrier and for forming a chain of free stitches after the webs have been united, and means for moving said sewing mechanism from and toward the web carrier so asto carry it into and out of operative relation with the webs thereon 1and cause the chain of free stitches to extend outwardly therefrom.

7. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier, means for operating the same, a starting device therefor, a stud on said web carrier, a locking arm for a member of said starting device, and a stop plate on said arm so disposed as to come within the path of the stud on the y web carrier and be raised thereby.

8. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier havingratchet teeth thereon, a pawl for engaging said ratchet teeth, and pawl operating means including two cams of different throw, and means for placing the pawloperating device under control of either of these cams.

9. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier having ratchet teeth thereon, a pawl for engaging said ratchet teeth, and means for operating said pawl, said means including a shaft with cam thereon, a driving device movable into and out of engagement with said shaft and having a cam with different throw from the cam on the shaft, a rocking device having two arms thereon, one for engaging the cam on the shaft and the other for engaging the cam on the driving device, and means whereby saidrocking device is caused to act upon the pawl.

- l0. The combination, in a machine for uniting knitted webs, of a web carrier, sewing mechanism coperating therewith, shears for operating between said web carrier and said sewing mechanism, operating mechanism for said shears having a member with vertically spaced points thereon, and a cam plate having upper and lower cams, one for acting upon the upper point and the other for acting upon the lower point.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS N D. WILLIAMS.

sewing 

